System and method for radio access virtualization

ABSTRACT

A method embodiment includes defining, by a network controller, one or more operation modes for a radio node in a network. The one or more operation modes includes a hyper transceiver mode, where the hyper transceiver mode configures a virtual transmission point to cooperatively communicate with a virtual reception point in accordance with neighborhood relations of a target radio node. The method further includes selecting one of the one or more operation modes for the radio node and signaling a selected operation mode to the radio node.

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.61/715,702, filed on Oct. 18, 2012, entitled “System and Method forRadio Access Virtualization,” which application is hereby incorporatedherein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to a system and method forwireless communications, and, in particular embodiments, to a system andmethod for radio access virtualization.

BACKGROUND

Generally, future wireless networks will be more interference dominant,with ultra-dense deployment of transmission points. Inter-cellinterference will limit the performance of cell edge user equipment(UEs). Basically, traditional wireless network topology causes limitedperformance at cell edge UEs because of interference from adjacent cellsor overlapping cells. The existing cell formation and UE-cellassociation mechanisms create many cell edge UEs. Technologies to manageor mitigate inter-cell interference have been investigated, such asinter-cell interference coordination (ICIC), coordinated multi-point(CoMP), and interference cancellation (IC). However, these technologiesfail to address a fundamental problem of the existence of numerous celledge UEs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

These and other problems are generally solved or circumvented, andtechnical advantages are generally achieved, by preferred embodiments ofthe present invention which provides a system and method for radioaccess virtualization.

In accordance with an embodiment, a method for radio accessvirtualization in a wireless network includes defining, by a networkcontroller, one or more operation modes for a radio node in a network.The one or more operation modes includes a hyper transceiver mode, wherethe hyper transceiver mode configures a virtual transmission point tocooperatively communicate with a virtual reception point in accordancewith neighborhood relations of a target radio node. The method furtherincludes selecting one of the one or more operation modes for the radionode and signaling a selected operation mode to the first radio node.

In accordance with another embodiment, a network controller includes aprocessor, a computer readable storage medium storing programming forexecution by the processor, and a transmitter for signaling a selectedoperation mode to a radio node in a network. The programming includesinstructions define one or more operation modes for the network, andselect one of the one or more operation modes for the radio node. Theone or more operation modes include a hyper transceiver mode. The hypertransceiver mode configures a virtual transmission point tocooperatively communicate with a virtual reception point in accordancewith neighborhood relations of a target radio node.

In accordance with another embodiment, a method for radio accessvirtualization in a wireless network includes receiving, by a firstnetwork device in a network, a selected operation mode and communicatingwith a second network device in the network in accordance with theselected operation mode. The selected operation mode is one of one ormore operation modes. The one or more operation modes include a hypertransceiver mode. The hyper transceiver mode configures a virtualtransmission point to cooperatively communicate with a virtual receptionpoint in accordance with neighborhood relations of a target radio node.

In accordance with yet another embodiment, a network device includes aprocessor and a computer readable storage medium storing programming forexecution by the processor. The programming includes instructions tosignal a cooperative transmission capability or a cooperative receptioncapability of the network device, receive a selected operation mode, andcommunicate with a second network device in accordance with the selectedoperation mode. The selected operation mode is one of one or moreoperation modes. The one or more operation modes include a hypertransceiver mode. The hyper transceiver mode configures a virtualtransmission point to cooperative communicate with a virtual receptionpoint in accordance with neighborhood relations of a target radio node.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present invention, and theadvantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptionstaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a network, which may operate in accordancewith various embodiments;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a network operating in a hyper transmissionmode in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a network operating in a hyper receptionmode in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a network operating in a hyper transceivermode in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of network controller operations in accordancewith various embodiments;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of network device operations in accordance withvarious embodiments; and

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a computing system, which may be used toimplement various embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

The making and using of embodiments are discussed in detail below. Itshould be appreciated, however, that the present invention provides manyapplicable inventive concepts that can be embodied in a wide variety ofspecific contexts. The specific embodiments discussed are merelyillustrative of specific ways to make and use the invention, and do notlimit the scope of the invention.

Various embodiments are described in a specific context, namely a cloudradio access network (CRAN). Various embodiments may also be applied,however, to other networks where a group of network transmission pointsmay be controlled by one or more controllers. Various embodiments may beimplemented in long term evolution (LTE) access networks (e.g., 4G,future 5G, and beyond) and in LTE devices (e.g., base stations (BSs) anduser equipment (UEs)) and future advanced devices.

Generally, current networking technologies for handling inter-cellinterference consider transmitters and receivers separately. Forexample, one or more transmitting nodes (e.g., BSs) may jointly transmitinformation to receiving nodes (e.g., UEs) in its coverage area. Asanother example, one or more receiving nodes (e.g., UEs) may jointlyreceive information from an associated transmitting node (e.g., a BS).However, such schemes still rely on network associations betweenspecific BSs and UEs in specific coverage areas.

Various embodiments provide a network controller, which defines variousoperation modes for transmitting data in a network. At least one ofthese operation modes may be a hyper transceiver mode, where both thetransmitter and the receiver are virtualized in accordance withneighborhood relations of a target radio node (e.g., a target UE). Thatis, a virtual transmission point and a virtual reception point allow forjoint transmission and joint reception to a target radio node. Thevirtual transmission point and virtual reception point are formed of asubset of radio nodes in the network based on neighborhood relations ofthe target radio node in order to reduce the complexity of jointtransmission and joint reception to a manageable level.

In a hyper transceiver operation mode, data transmissions no longer relyon the traditional BS and UE association mechanism. Thus, the presenceof cell edges or cell boundaries is minimized or eliminated, and theissue of inter-cell interference is addressed on a fundamental level.Hyper transceivers may be employed to provide a scalable data pipe toradio nodes for data transmission. The configuration of the data pipemay be defined by channel resource allocations and the formation of avirtual transmission point and a virtual reception point. The datathroughput level of the scalable data pipe may be dynamically configuredto meet different quality of service (QoS) requirements of differentservices (e.g., different subscription levels) for a target radio node(e.g., a target UE). A centralized controller may be used to optimallygroup the various hyper transceivers and to schedule transmissions.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a network 100, which may operatein accordance with various embodiments. Network 100 may be a CRAN.Network 100 uses CRAN architecture to virtualize transmission pointsusing cloud computing, multi-core processor, fiber connectivity, andintelligent radio systems technologies. Network 100 may further usedevice-to-device (D2D) communications and/or backhaul linkcommunications to provide virtual reception points.

Network 100 includes a plurality of radio nodes, such as BSs 102 and UEs104. Communications between BSs 102 and UEs 104 may be managed by acentralized network controller 106, which may define various modes ofoperation for communications and select a particular mode of operationfor each radio node (e.g., BSs 102 and UEs 104). Notably, controller 106may be a separate entity or co-located in other entities (e.g., in a BS102).

FIG. 1 illustrates a single controller 106 managing network 100 forsimplicity. However, network 100 may be partitioned into a plurality ofclusters (e.g., CRAN clusters) to manage controller deploymentcomplexity. When network 100 is partitioned into a plurality ofclusters, controller 106 may only manage one or a subset of clusters innetwork 100 depending on the size and complexity of the clusters. Othercontrollers 106 may manage the remaining CRAN clusters in network 100.Furthermore, controllers 106 may coordinate management of clusters innetwork 100 to avoid interference and cell-edge type boundaries betweencoverage areas. For example, a radio node at a cluster boundary betweentwo controllers 106 may be managed by both controllers 106 jointly. Asanother example, controllers 106 may be managed by one or morehigher-tier controllers. Radio nodes at a cluster boundary may bemanaged by an applicable higher-tier controller. Of course, furthertiers of higher cluster control, such as a global cluster controller,may also be used to manage network 100 depending on network complexityand configuration.

Data transmissions in network 100 may be done using scalable data pipesprovided by controller 106. Generally, a scalable data pipe is providedby dynamically configuring its size (e.g., its data throughput level)and selecting a transmitting node for a transmission. Rather thanassigning a plurality of resource blocks of a particular integer sizefor a transmission, controller 106 may dynamically configure thethroughput of a scalable data pipe to meet a quality of service (QoS)requirement for different services of the radio node. For example,controller 106 may configure a data pipe with a high throughput for a UEto receive large data (e.g., a streaming movie), whereas a lowthroughput may be configured for a UE to receive small data (e.g., smallpacket transmissions). The data pipe size may also be determined by theselection of a communications operation mode. For example, when a datapacket is transmitted by more than one transmitting node and/or receivedby more than one receiving node, the assigned channel resources may beless than the channel resources that would have been assigned in anormal operation mode (i.e., a single transmitting node transmitting toa single receiving node). Furthermore, controller 106 may select atransmission point for the data pipe in accordance with a selectedoperation mode for a target receiving node.

Controller 106 defines various operation modes for communicationsbetween radio nodes (e.g., BSs 102 and UEs 104). The various operationmodes include a hyper transceiver mode. The various operation modes mayalso include a normal transmission mode, a hyper transmission mode, ahyper reception mode, or combinations thereof. As explained in greaterdetail below, multiple cooperative transmitting nodes transmit data tomultiple cooperative reception modes in a hyper transceiver mode. Anormal transmission mode is a standard/legacy operation mode where asingle transmitting node (e.g., BS 102) communications with a singlereceiving node (e.g., UE 104) using any suitable framework, which mayinclude interference cancelling techniques or other interferencemanagement schemes. Selecting a particular BS 102 for transmissions totarget UE 104 may be done by controller 106 in accordance with thetarget UE 104's neighborhood relations (e.g., the target UE's physicallocation in relation to available BSs in network 100, radio signal pathloss statistics, received signal strength, or the like).

A hyper transmission mode is generally an operation mode wherecooperating transmitting nodes (e.g., multiple BSs) communicate with asingle receiving node (e.g., a UE). In a hyper transmission mode,various receiving nodes (e.g., UEs 104) may not perform cooperativereception of data.

FIG. 2 illustrates network 100 operating in a hyper transmission mode inaccordance with various embodiments. In order to simplify the highlycomplex nature of joint transmissions involving all availabletransmitting nodes in a network, transmitting nodes in network 100 maybe partitioned into CRAN clusters 200. In FIG. 2, CRAN clusters 200 areillustrated as being managed by a single controller 106. AlternativelyCRAN clusters 200 may be controlled by separate controllers 106 (e.g.,when CRAN clusters 200 are large or require greater signal processingmanagement capabilities than a single controller 106 can provide). EachCRAN cluster 200 may further be subdivided into virtual transmissionpoints 202 (also referred to as CRAN sub-clusters 202). Each virtualtransmission point 202 may include a plurality of transmitting nodes(e.g., BSs 102) cooperatively transmitting data to receiving nodes(e.g., UEs 104). Cooperative transmissions by transmitting nodes in avirtual transmission point 202 may be coordinated using, e.g., abackhaul communication link. The number of BSs in each virtualtransmission points 202 may vary depending on network configuration.

CRAN clusters 200 and virtual transmission points 202 are dynamicallygrouped to provide coordinated transmissions to receiving nodes (e.g.,UEs 104) in accordance with neighborhood relations between availabletransmission points and a target receiving node (e.g., radio signal pathloss statistics, received signal strength, geography, or the like).Specifically, this dynamic grouping may be performed by controller 106to avoid the formation of cell-edge receiving nodes. For example, ascheme for grouping CRAN clusters 200 and virtual transmission points202 is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/932,761, filedon Jul. 1, 2013, entitled “System and Method for Grouping and SelectingTransmission Points,” which application is hereby incorporated herein byreference.

A hyper reception mode is generally an operation mode where a singletransmitting node (e.g., a BS) communicates with multiple cooperativereceiving nodes (e.g., multiple UE). In a hyper reception mode, varioustransmitting nodes (e.g., BSs) may not perform cooperative transmissionof data.

FIG. 3 illustrates network 100 operating in a hyper reception mode inaccordance with various embodiments. FIG. 3 illustrates a BS 102communicating with two virtual reception points 300. Each virtualreception point 300 includes a plurality of receiving nodes (e.g., UEs104) cooperatively receiving and decoding transmissions. UEs 104 maycooperatively receive transmissions by communicating with other UEs 104in a virtual reception point 300 using, for example, D2D communications.While FIG. 3 illustrates virtual reception points 300 having four orfive receiving nodes, the number of receiving nodes in a virtualreception point may vary, for example, depending on the availability ofcooperative reception capable receivers, available resources of nearbyreceivers, and the like.

Virtual reception points 300 are formed by cooperation between receivingnodes, which provides many benefits such as diversity in space, time,and frequency, improving system capacity and coverage. Receiving nodecooperation increases robustness against fading and interference anddecreases the overall number of network radio sites. Receiving nodecooperation further minimizes operating and maintenance costs whilestill maintaining a desired QoS level.

Generally, transmissions from BS 102 over certain channel resources maybe targeted towards a particular target receiving node 104T in a virtualreception point 300. The remaining receiving nodes in each virtualreception point 300 may be referred to as helper receivers and improvethe quality of reception of the target receiving node. For example, ahelper receiver may have a better transmission channel established withBS 102 than a target receiver 104T. Thus, the helper receiver mayreceiver a portion of or all of a transmission meant for target receiver104T. The helper receiver may then forward the received transmission tothe target receiver 104T using, for example, D2D communications. A moredetailed description of communications using virtual reception points isdisclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/646,549, filed on Oct.5, 2012, entitled “Terminal Based Grouping Virtual Transmission andReception in Wireless Networks,” which application is herebyincorporated herein by reference.

A hyper transceiver mode is generally an operation mode where multipletransmitting nodes (e.g., multiple BSs) cooperatively communicate withmultiple receiving nodes (e.g., multiple UEs). In a hyper transceivernode, a virtual transmission point communicates with a virtual receptionpoint to transmit data.

FIG. 4 illustrates network 100 operating in a hyper transceiver mode inaccordance with various embodiments. In a hyper transceiver mode,virtual transmission points 202 communicate with virtual receptionpoints 300 using scalable data pipes. Data packets are jointlycooperatively transmitted by transmitting nodes (e.g., BSs 102) invirtual transmission points 202. Transmissions meant for a targetreceiver 104T are jointly or cooperatively received by cooperatingreceiving nodes in the applicable virtual reception point 300.

The grouping of transmitting nodes and receiving nodes into virtualtransmission points and virtual reception points, respectively, may beperformed by controller 106 based on the neighborhood relations of atarget receiver 104T. The neighborhood relations of a target receiver104T generally refers to target receiver 104T's relative channel quality(e.g., radio signal path loss statistics, received signal strength,geography, or the like) in relation to other available receiving nodesand transmitting nodes capable of cooperative transmissions/reception innetwork 100. For example, controller 106 may form a virtual transmissionpoint 202 by selecting optimal, cooperative transmission capabletransmitting nodes based on the target radio node 104's relativeposition and received signal strength so that the target radio node 104Tis not in a cell edge/boundary. Controller 106 may also form a virtualreception point 300 based on available cooperative receiving nodes inthe proximity of the target radio node 104T.

Furthermore, as a target receiver 104T's physical location changes, thevirtual transmission point and virtual reception point corresponding tothat target receiver 104T may be dynamically reconfigured by controller106 in accordance with the target receiver 104T's new neighborhoodrelations. Thus, the grouping of transmitting nodes and receiving nodesinto virtual transmission points 202 and virtual reception points 300,respectively, may be target receiving node centric. That is, thegrouping may depend on the neighborhood relations of a target receivingnode in network 100. The particular configurations of virtualtransmission points 202 and virtual reception points 300 in FIG. 4 aremerely examples of possible configurations, other configurations arealso contemplated in various embodiments.

Controller 106 selects an operation mode for each radio node in network100. The selected operation mode may or may not vary among differentradio nodes in network 100. For example, different radio nodes innetwork 100 may simultaneously operate in a normal transmission mode, ahyper transmission mode, a hyper reception mode, a hyper transceivermode, and combinations thereof. Controller 106 signals a selectedoperation mode to each radio node in network 100, and the radio nodescommunicate within network 100 in accordance with their selectedoperation mode. Controller 106 may also provide scalable data pipes toradio nodes for transmissions in accordance with the selectedtransmission mode and other considerations (e.g., a QoS requirement).

The selection of an operation mode for a radio node may be performed bycontroller 106 in accordance with service requirements, QoS requirementsfor a particular service, network load, transmitting node capability,receiving node capability, application, traffic type, energy efficiency,or the like. The capability of a radio node to conduct cooperativetransmission and/or cooperative reception of data is a factor inselecting an operation mode for a radio node. Controller 106 is aware ofa cooperative transmission capability and a cooperative receptioncapability for each radio node in network 100. For example, a receivingradio node may signal to controller 106 its cooperative receptioncapability. A receiving node's cooperative reception capability maydepend on its ability to conduct D2D communications. A transmittingradio node may signal its cooperative transmission capability tocontroller 106. If the radio node is not capable of cooperativetransmissions and/or cooperative reception, controller 106 may select anappropriate operation mode accordingly and may semi-statically signalthe selected operation mode to the radio node.

In various embodiments, operation mode selection may also take intoaccount other considerations such as service requirements, QoSrequirements for a transmission (e.g., a data packet), network load,energy efficiency, and the like. For example, controller 106 may notexpend network resources on cooperative transmissions/reception for lowservice requirement or low QoS transmissions. As another example, if thechannel quality between a receiving node and a transmitting node isgood, cooperative transmission and reception may be unnecessary. Thus,controller 106 may conserve network resources by selecting a normaltransmission mode for radio nodes having good existing channel quality.As another example, if the network load of network 100 is light (e.g.,there is an ample amount of network resources for all scheduledtransmissions), controller 106 may determine cooperativetransmissions/reception are unnecessary. Controller 106 may select anormal transmission mode for transmissions, simplifying computationalcost (e.g., reducing the cost of decoding joint transmissions). As yetanother example, network 100 may disable some transmission points toconserve energy, and thus cooperative transmission capabilities may notbe enabled. Similarly, cooperative reception may be disabled atreceiving nodes to conserve energy. Controller 106 may select anoperation mode in accordance with the enabled hypertransmission/reception capabilities. In these embodiments whencontroller 106 takes into account other considerations, such as, servicerequirements, QoS requirements, network load, energy efficiency, and thelike in selecting an operation mode, controller 106 may dynamicallysignal the selected operation mode to the radio node in accordance withany changes in network 100 and/or the transmission.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow chart of network controller operation inaccordance with various embodiments. In step 500, a network controllerdefines one or more operation modes for transmissions in the network.The operation modes at least include a hyper transceiver mode, wherevirtual transmission points cooperatively communicate with virtualreception points in accordance with neighborhood relations of a targetradio node. The operation modes may further include a normaltransmission mode, a hyper transmission mode, a hyper reception mode, ora combination thereof. A normal transmission mode is defined as anoperation mode where a single transmitting node communicates with asingle receiving node. A hyper transmission mode is defined as anoperation mode where multiple transmitting nodes cooperative communicatewith a single receiving node. A hyper reception mode is defined as anoperation mode where a single transmitting node communicates withmultiple cooperative receiving nodes.

In step 502, the network controller may obtain the information on acooperative transmission capability and/or cooperative receptioncapability of a radio node in the network. For example, the radio nodemay signal, to the network controller, its cooperative receptioncapability based on its ability to conduct D2D communications, itsability coordinate transmissions with other transmitting nodes using abackhaul link, or the like. In step 504, the network controller selectsan operation mode for the radio node. The selection of an operation modemay be in accordance with the radio node's cooperative transmissioncapability (e.g., when the radio node is a transmitting node) or itscooperative reception capability (e.g., when the radio node is areceiving node). The selection of an operation mode may also take intoconsideration other factors such as service requirements, QoSrequirements, network load, and the like. In step 506, the networkcontroller signals the selected operation mode to the radio node.

In step 508, the network controller may provide a scalable data pipe toradio nodes for transmissions. The scalable data pipe may be configuredin accordance with the selected operation mode (i.e., thetransmitting/receiving points may be selected in accordance with theselected operation mode). A throughput of the data pipe may bedynamically configured in accordance with a QoS requirement of a servicefor a radio node.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of network device operations in accordance withvarious embodiments. In step 600, the network device signals itscooperative transmission capability and cooperative reception capabilityto a network controller. The network device's cooperative receptioncapability may depend on its ability to conduct D2D communications(e.g., when the device is a UE) or its ability to communicate over abackhaul link (e.g., when the device is a BS). The network device'scooperative transmission capability may depend on its ability tocooperative transmit data by communicating with other transmitting nodesover a backhaul link (e.g., when the device is a BS) or D2Dcommunications (e.g., when the device is a UE). In step 602, the networkdevice receives a selected operation mode. The selected operation modeis one of several defined for a network by the network controller. Thedefined operation modes at least include a hyper transceiver mode, wherevirtual transmission points cooperatively transmit data to virtualreception points in accordance with neighborhood relations of a targetradio node. The selected operation mode may be done in accordance with acooperative transmission capability of the network device (e.g., whenthe network device is a transmitting node) or a cooperative receptioncapability of the network device (e.g., when the network device is areceiving node). In step 604, the network device transmits/receives datain accordance with the selected operation mode using, for example, ascalable data pipe provided by the controller in accordance with theselected operation mode.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a processing system that may be used forimplementing the devices and methods disclosed herein. Specific devicesmay utilize all of the components shown, or only a subset of thecomponents, and levels of integration may vary from device to device.Furthermore, a device may contain multiple instances of a component,such as multiple processing units, processors, memories, transmitters,receivers, etc. The processing system may comprise a processing unitequipped with one or more input/output devices, such as a speaker,microphone, mouse, touchscreen, keypad, keyboard, printer, display, andthe like. The processing unit may include a central processing unit(CPU), memory, a mass storage device, a video adapter, and an I/Ointerface connected to a bus.

The bus may be one or more of any type of several bus architecturesincluding a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, videobus, or the like. The CPU may comprise any type of electronic dataprocessor. The memory may comprise any type of system memory such asstatic random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM),synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), read-only memory (ROM), a combination thereof,or the like. In an embodiment, the memory may include ROM for use atboot-up, and DRAM for program and data storage for use while executingprograms.

The mass storage device may comprise any type of storage deviceconfigured to store data, programs, and other information and to makethe data, programs, and other information accessible via the bus. Themass storage device may comprise, for example, one or more of a solidstate drive, hard disk drive, a magnetic disk drive, an optical diskdrive, or the like.

The video adapter and the I/O interface provide interfaces to coupleexternal input and output devices to the processing unit. Asillustrated, examples of input and output devices include the displaycoupled to the video adapter and the mouse/keyboard/printer coupled tothe I/O interface. Other devices may be coupled to the processing unit,and additional or fewer interface cards may be utilized. For example, aserial interface card (not shown) may be used to provide a serialinterface for a printer.

The processing unit also includes one or more network interfaces, whichmay comprise wired links, such as an Ethernet cable or the like, and/orwireless links to access nodes or different networks. The networkinterface allows the processing unit to communicate with remote unitsvia the networks. For example, the network interface may providewireless communication via one or more transmitters/transmit antennasand one or more receivers/receive antennas. In an embodiment, theprocessing unit is coupled to a local-area network or a wide-areanetwork for data processing and communications with remote devices, suchas other processing units, the Internet, remote storage facilities, orthe like.

While this invention has been described with reference to illustrativeembodiments, this description is not intended to be construed in alimiting sense. Various modifications and combinations of theillustrative embodiments, as well as other embodiments of the invention,will be apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reference to thedescription. It is therefore intended that the appended claims encompassany such modifications or embodiments.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for radio access virtualization in anetwork, the method comprising: defining, by a network controller, oneor more operation modes for a first radio node in the network, whereinthe one or more operation modes includes a hyper transceiver mode,wherein the hyper transceiver mode configures a virtual transmissionpoint comprising the first radio node and at least one other radio nodejointly performing both transmit and receive communications, tocooperatively communicate with a virtual reception point comprising atarget radio node and at least one neighboring radio node jointlyperforming both transmit and receive communications, in accordance withneighborhood relations of the target radio node; selecting, by thenetwork controller, one of the one or more operation modes for the firstradio node; and signaling, by the network controller, a selectedoperation mode to the first radio node.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the one or more operation modes further includes a normaltransceiver mode, a hyper transmission mode, a hyper reception mode, ora combination thereof.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting oneof the one or more operation modes comprises selecting one of the one ormore operation modes in accordance with a cooperative transmissioncapability of the first radio node, the method further comprising:determining the cooperative transmission capability of the first radionode.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting one of the one or moreoperation modes comprises selecting one of the one or more operationmodes in accordance with a service requirement of a transmission, aquality of service (QoS) requirement for a type of service for the firstradio node, a network load of the network, energy efficiency of thenetwork, or a combination thereof, and wherein signaling the selectedoperation mode comprises dynamically signaling the selected operationmode to the first radio node.
 5. The method of claim 1, whereinselecting one of the one or more operation modes further comprisesselecting one of the one or more operation modes in accordance with acooperative reception capability of a second radio node, wherein thevirtual reception point comprises the second radio node, and wherein themethod further comprises selecting, by the network controller, one ofthe one or more operation modes for the second radio node.
 6. The methodof claim 1, further comprising providing a scalable data pipe to thefirst radio node for communications in accordance with the selectedoperation mode.
 7. The method of claim 6, further comprising dynamicallyallocating, by the network controller, a data throughput level for thescalable data pipe in accordance with a quality of service (QoS) for atype of service for the first radio node.
 8. The method of claim 1,wherein the network is a cloud radio access network (CRAN), and whereinthe hyper transceiver mode utilizes device-to-device (D2D)communications.
 9. A network controller comprising: a processor; acomputer readable storage medium storing programming for execution bythe processor, the programming including instructions to: define one ormore operation modes for a first radio node in a network, wherein theone or more operation modes includes a hyper transceiver mode, whereinthe hyper transceiver mode configures a virtual transmission point,comprising at least two radio nodes jointly performing both transmit andreceive communications, to cooperatively communicate with a virtualreception point comprising the first radio node and a target radio nodejointly performing both transmit and receive communications, inaccordance with neighborhood relations of the target radio node; andselect one of the one or more operation modes for the first radio nodein the network; and a transmitter for signaling a selected operationmode to the first radio node.
 10. The network controller of claim 9,wherein the network is a cloud radio access network (CRAN) and the hypertransceiver mode utilizes device-to-device (D2D) communications.
 11. Thenetwork controller of claim 9, wherein the one or more operation modesfurther include a normal transceiver mode, a hyper transmission mode, ahyper reception mode, or a combination thereof.
 12. The networkcontroller of claim 9, wherein the programming includes furtherinstructions to provide a scalable data pipe to the first radio node inaccordance with the selected operation mode, wherein a data throughputlevel for the scalable data pipe is dynamically configured, by thenetwork controller, in accordance with a quality of service (QoS)requirement for a type of service for the first radio node.
 13. Thenetwork controller of claim 9, wherein the programming includes furtherinstructions to determine a cooperative transmission capability of asecond radio node, wherein the virtual transmission point comprises thesecond radio node, and wherein the instructions to select one of the oneor more operation modes includes further instructions to select one ofthe one or more operation modes in accordance with the cooperativetransmission capability of the second radio node.
 14. The networkcontroller of claim 9, wherein the programming includes furtherinstructions to determine a cooperative reception capability of thefirst radio node, and wherein the instructions to select one of the oneor more operation modes includes further instructions to select one ofthe one or more operation modes in accordance with the cooperativereception capability of the first radio node.
 15. A method for radioaccess virtualization in a network, the method comprising: receiving, bya first network device in the network, a selected operation mode from anetwork controller, wherein the selected operation mode is one of one ormore operation modes selected by the network controller for the firstnetwork device, wherein the one or more operation modes includes a hypertransceiver mode, and wherein the hyper transceiver mode configures avirtual transmission point comprising the first network device node andat least one other network device jointly performing both transmit andreceive communications, to cooperatively communicate with a virtualreception point comprising a target radio node and at least one secondnetwork device jointly performing both transmit and receivecommunications, in accordance with neighborhood relations of the targetradio node; and communicating with the second network device in thenetwork in accordance with the selected operation mode.
 16. The methodof claim 15, further comprising signaling, to the network, a cooperativetransmission capability or a cooperative reception capability of thefirst network device, wherein the selected operation mode is selected inaccordance with the cooperative transmission capability or thecooperative reception capability.
 17. The method of claim 16, whereinthe cooperative reception capability is in accordance with adevice-to-device (D2D) communication capability of the first networkdevice.
 18. The method of claim 15, wherein the one or more operationmodes further includes a normal transceiver mode, a hyper transmissionmode, a hyper reception mode, or a combination thereof.
 19. The methodof claim 15, wherein the network is a cloud access radio network (CARN).20. The method of claim 15, wherein communicating with the secondnetwork device comprises using a scalable data pipe in accordance withthe selected operation mode.
 21. The method of claim 20, wherein a datathroughput level of the scalable data pipe is dynamically configured inaccordance with a quality of service (QoS) requirement for a type ofservice for the first network device.
 22. A network device comprising: aprocessor; a computer readable storage medium storing programming forexecution by the processor, the programming including instructions to:signal a cooperative transmission capability or a cooperative receptioncapability of the network device to a network; receive a selectedoperation mode from a network controller, wherein the selected operationmode is one of one or more operation modes selected by the networkcontroller for the network device, wherein the one or more operationmodes includes a hyper transceiver mode, and wherein the hypertransceiver mode configures a virtual transmission point, comprising asecond network device and at least one other radio node jointlyperforming both transmit and receive communications, to cooperativelycommunicate with a virtual reception point comprising the network deviceand a target radio node jointly performing both transmit and receivecommunications, in accordance with neighborhood relations of the targetradio node; and communicate with the second network device in thenetwork in accordance with the selected operation mode.
 23. The networkdevice of claim 22, wherein the selected operation mode is selected inaccordance with the cooperative transmission capability or thecooperative reception capability.